


The boy with the vinyl record

by thedarkspacesinmymind



Series: SBI + Tubbo Steampunk au [3]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Caring Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Gen, Gift Giving, Happy TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Hugs, Jealousy, POV Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Pig Hybrid Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Soft Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Tommy's discs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:47:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29812806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedarkspacesinmymind/pseuds/thedarkspacesinmymind
Summary: Techno watched him go with furrowed brows. Then he glanced back down at the disc, fingering the credits in his pocket.They still needed to pick up those supplies.Phil would understand.
Relationships: Technoblade & Phil Watson, Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & Technoblade, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit, mentioned Tommyinnit and Tubbo
Series: SBI + Tubbo Steampunk au [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2144172
Comments: 17
Kudos: 149





	The boy with the vinyl record

**Author's Note:**

> ayyy sorry for the long wait. I litterally rewrote this chapter like three times cause i wasn't happy with it. I also completely changed the direction of the story so now it's a lot less angsty. sorry to anyone who was here for the pain but canon's been rough lately so i'm giving the characters a reprive. 
> 
> Also, this work is part of a series so if you haven't already I strongly suggest reading the first two parts before this one or else it's not gonna make much sense.

Techno wasn’t a social person. At this point, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Growing up in the pit meant all his early social interactions had mostly consisted of Keepers barking orders at him and scientists muttering to each other like he wasn't there as they poked and prodded him with strange devices. 

Besides the pink hair, pig ears, and trust issues, the only thing the pit had given him was -5 social skills.

All this to say, Techno wasn't great at making friends. And he was fine with that. Sure, things got a little lonely at times and he didn’t have the benefit of someone to protect him but that was fine. He didn’t need anyone anyways.

Until he met Wilbur Soot.

Wilbur, who'd gotten himself blown up just as Techno was beginning to care for him. Wilbur, who was bleeding out in his arms. Wilbur, who was charming and clever and a dirty criminal but Techno didn’t mind.

He thought he’d lost him that day.

That was when Phil came into the picture. Phil, who’d hurt them and crashed their ship. Phil, who was kind and gentle and had given Techno his space until he was ready to forgive the man.

Phil’d say, “I’ll let you two off at the next island.” And then he didn’t. And They didn’t leave. The trio continued this game of false intentions, forever coming up with excuses to stay. Forever making what should have been cut short last. One more island. One more day.

He wasn’t afraid to say goodbye anymore.

Because that’s just how it was, the three of them against the world. Against goodbyes, against forever. That’s the way things worked. The way Techno _liked_ it.

And then the orphan came along.

“And so I said- Techno? Techno I said, ‘Oh so you wanna go you little bitch? You big man?’ I threatened him, that's what I did. And the Keepers- you know the keepers. Bunch a beta males the lot of them. No match for Tommy Innit. Tommy Innit’s a big man! So they were all-”

Techno groaned, slamming his head back dramatically against the hull of the ship. Tommy paid him no mind, continuing to ramble on and on about his supposed daring escape from the Keepers. He’d only been with them about a week, but already Techno had heard this story a dozen times.

“-isn’t that right Techno? Techno are you listening? Are you ignoring me Techno? Oh that’s so offensive. Ignoring me like you don’t even care what I have to say? Y’know Tubbo would listen to my stories. Tubbo’s a great listener. You know one time he-”

And there he goes again. On and on about this Tubbo guy he’s been looking for. Techno didn’t know his full history, (surprising considering how much the kid talked) but what he’d gathered so far was they had grown up together in the orphanage. Somehow they'd gotten separated and Tommy had spent the last two years searching for him. 

And for some reason Techno still doesn’t understand, Wilbur and Phil decided to help the kid.

And now he was stuck here, on babysitting duty until they got back from buying fuel for the ship.

“Techno,” _huff_ “a little-” _huff_ “help here please?” 

He looked up at the sound of Wilbur’s voice. The brunet was struggling with a metal canister, half dragging it across the platform towards the ship. Behind him, Phil hefted two just like it on his shoulder with ease.

Techno didn’t move from his position seated in the shade of the ship. “No, I don’t think I will.” he drawled, unable to help the smirk that painted his lips.

Wilbur glowered, looking like he wanted to retort but deciding he should save his breath.

“I’ll help you Wil!” Tommy leapt to his feet, wrapping his arms around the canister trying to lift it. It didn’t budge.

Wilbur chuckled, ruffling the blond's hair good naturedly. “Don’t worry about it Toms. I’m sure I’ll manage.” 

The teen glowed under the show of affection. Techno bit down a pang of jealousy. 

He stood and stretched, following his companions up the ramp and onto the ship. Wilbur grunted as he set down his canister in the corner of the hull, leaning against the wall to catch his breath.

Phil sighed in satisfaction, dusting off his hands. “Great work Wilbur. And Tommy, thanks for the help.”

Techno snorted. Phil frowned at him before continuing: “I’ve still got a few supplies to pick up at the market. You three can come and stretch your legs a bit.”

Wilbur muttered something about how his legs had already been stretched quite a bit, thank you very much but he followed as the other three made their way down from the landing deck and over to the large open air market that looked out over the edge of the island.

It was different from the one where Techno and Wilbur had first met. Instead of Keepers patrolling the walkways the boardwalk was lined with tourists from every corner of the Hypixel system. Brightly coloured tarps swayed gently overhead, stretching between the tops of vendors stalls and providing a cool shade. Vendors loudly advertised their wares, from steam powered weapons to baked goods to explosives to jewelry, the place had it all.

“Wilbur,” Phil addressed the brunet, “Why don’t you and I take a break and wander around a bit. Tommy and Techno, here’s some change. See if you can pick up some spare parts for the ship.”

Techno opened his mouth to argue, to insist Tommy go with them because _he can buy supplies on his own, thank you very much._ But the others were already walking away, leaving him with the gremlin child.

“Have fun you two! Try not to kill each other.” Wilbur called, right before he and Phil were swallowed by the crowd.

Techno sighed, mentally cursing the Sky Gods for his luck before turning on his heel and heading off towards the vendor stands as Tommy waved an energetic goodbye to their companions before following.

He wasn’t an idiot. He knew why Phil had insisted on him and Tommy spending time together, whether that was babysitting the younger while the other two went out to buy supplies or conveniently leaving the two alone for long periods of time.

He hadn’t made any effort to hide his disdain for the orphan. Techno didn’t like kids. Period. It wasn’t anything personal. Really he didn’t see what the big deal was.

And if Wilbur wanted to ruffle the blond’s hair fondly, and laugh with him and fall asleep with the younger held protectively against his chest, then that was fine.

(He still couldn’t help feeling a little replaced.)

They made their way between stalls filled with merchandise, dodging between travelers and tourists as they passed. Techno kept his cap pulled low over his pig-like ears, hair bundled up tightly underneath it to hide his hybrid features.

Tommy was seemingly mesmerized by everything he saw, dragging Techno between stalls as he stared enraptured with wide blue eyes at whatever had piqued his fascination. He ogled shining brass machinations and glass blown figurines. At one point Techno had to drag him back by his red scarf to keep him away from a stand selling bottles of greek fire.

“Oi! Techno I wanna look at the explosives,” Tommy whined, trying to wriggle out of his grip.

The pinkette grunted. “You’ll blow this island out of the sky. Now c’mon. We need those parts.”

“Fine.” He followed him as the pinkette moved between stalls, trying to find a vendor selling the parts they needed. Then his eyes alighted on a stand selling antiques and he grabbed Techno by the sleeve, ignoring the elder’s protests as he dragged him towards the merchant.

The table displayed dozens of artifacts, each one an antique rarer than gold. The surviving remnants of an age long past. There were figures made of a strange material called plastick, depicting ancient forgotten deities. Among them stood bare chested green monster, a metal man in red and gold and, a soldier with a round shield emblazoned with a star in the center of three rings. There were strange flat devices, sleek black rectangles that had once been a common commodity. Now no one knew how they worked, their secrets lost to time.

“Techno look!”

Tommy held up a round disc for him to see. The outer part was black with a coloured center of purple and white. 

“It’s a music disc!” he exclaimed excitedly. “They had one back at the orphanage. Tubbo and I used to take it out and play it. See there was this machine that you put it in, and-”

Techno only half listened as Tommy rambled on about something called a record player and a song about a cat. He was distracted by the way the boy’s eyes lit up as he recalled the memories, the eagerness in his voice as he talked. For once the subtle ache in his voice whenever he mentioned Tubbo wasn’t there. He spoke with a passion and excitement that made Techno think that disc at the orphanage had been something very precious to him.

Tommy cut off abruptly as he realized Techno was staring. His cheeks reddened. “Anyway,” he muttered, embarrassed. “I just thought it was cool.”

He placed the disc gently back on the table, brushing his fingers ever so lightly over the surface. “We should find those parts,” he said, sparing the disc one last longing glance before stepping back into the crowd.

Techno watched him go with furrowed brows. Then he glanced back down at the disc, fingering the credits in his pocket.

They still needed to pick up those supplies.

Phil would understand.

He slid the credits across the counter, slipping the disc into the wide inner pocket of his coat. Then he turned to catch up with Tommy.

Later, when Phil asked why they’d returned with 0 credits and 0 supplies, he would be forced to show them what he’d spent them on, with the awkwardness of someone unaccustomed to giving gifts. 

Tommy took the disc from him almost reverently, like he was afraid it would break. His eyes were wide, examining every inch of the vinyl, absorbing every detail. The teen was strangely quiet, the silence felt unnatural coming from someone so boisterous and loud.

For a moment Techno feared he’d completely misjudged the situation. Maybe he’d been imagining the longing in the teen's eyes when he’d looked at the disc, the fondness in his voice when he talked about the one he’d listened to with Tubbo. He began to panic, because _he doesn’t like it Techno you idiot you spent all of Phil's credit on this-_

The teen threw himself at Techno, jolting him out of his spiral. The pinkette froze as lanky arms wrapped around his torso, his entire body going rigid before he hesitantly returned the gesture.

Tommy buried his face in Techno's hair. “Thanks,” he murmured into his ear. Then he released him.

Techno’s cheekbones were tinted the same colour as his hair. “‘Not a big deal,” he muttered.

Tommy flashed him that wide grin of his, making Techno think it was in fact _very_ much a big deal, before running off to find Wilbur, most likely to show off his new disc.

“I’ll pay you back the credits,” Techno said as Phil came and stood beside him.

“Don’t sweat it mate.” The blond gave his shoulder a squeeze. They watched Tommy enthusiastically wave the disc in Wil’s face, then point towards Techno. “I think it was worth it.”

“Yeah,” he said softly, unable to suppress the small smile on his lips. “Yeah, it was.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments? I love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> Love you guys <3
> 
> Next time: One night, Tommy snuck out of the orphanage and didn't come back. Two years later, he finds someone he had almost given up on ever seeing again.


End file.
